The Problem with Experts

It's hard to tell which generation is in charge. But whoever it is, seems bent on driving the rest of us certifiably crazy. You wake up every morning, thinking that perhaps this time, you had a well-taken rest. You'll be prepared for this day. The sun is shining. What could go wrong?

But somebody, somewhere, has to go and share some ante-upping, snarky article or meme. 

You can't say anything . . . anything . . . without someone countering with some scientific study, some comedian's devastating wit, some tug-at-your-heartstrings tale of woe, some act of great courage sustained by a member of The Other Team. You must either back down at overwhelming logic, shame yourself for your cruelty ("You want people to die"), accept that you have been on the wrong side of history, or simply, just give up - you guys are gonna lose. 

The sky is blue.

Well, actually, it's not.

It's good to be honest.

Not if the honest person is a racist.

Etc. Etc.

This morning's installment is a slap in the face of people with lifelong, finely-honed opinions. It's patronizing for even the most hardened practitioner of elitist condescension. It was one of the first things to appear on my feed: an NPR article, entitled "The problem with thinking you know more than the experts."

If you aren't good enough of a human being to be ashamed of yourself . . . 

If you aren't self-aware enough to get how uncool you are . . . 

If you aren't sincere enough to own your hypocrisy . . . 

Then maybe this will make your realize how dumb you are:

You think you're smarter than experts! (LMFAO!!)

Here's the deal - - - everybody loves expertise. We all rely on experts. We trust them. We admire them. We're all proud of our kids when they become experts. But there's an exception to every rule. The exception proves the rule! And, the classic "expert" realizes this. Science is all about disproving the hypothesis. You're supposed to welcome criticism. And as we used to all understand (at least, up until about 1996), we need to welcome criticism from all quarters . . . even from (especially from) non-experts.

You see, a clear view of a problem may require the eyes of someone from the outside; a layperson, an amateur, a skeptic. It's almost proverbial - the greatest breakthroughs come from outside the laboratory. 

And, this reliance on expertise, like all things, always only goes so far. You bring your expert, and I'll bring mine . . . and I'll bet they disagree. Or better yet - if my expert introduces factors that your expert did not consider, are you willing to part some, with your expert's conclusions? 

Effective problem-solving requires that we open up our minds a little bit. There's nothing worse, when you're trying to solve problems as big as COVID-19, than experts that will not entertain new information.

People don't have a problem with experts.

But they do have a problem with experts with power. 

Or, experts with money. 

Or, experts with different values.

Or, experts with no values. 

So yes, please, bring in your expertise. Invite all the experts you can manage. But let them adhere to the same rules expected of the rest of us:

Listen to others.

Empathize.

Go for win-win. 

Realize that creativity comes out of the tension of disagreement. 

The solution is, most frequently, somewhere in the mix of "All of the above."